3rd Arya Kshema

During the eighth day of teaching at the Arya Kshema Winter Dharma Gathering, the Gyalwang Karmapa discussed questions related to giving bhikshuni ordination to nuns. He also continued his teaching on rousing bodhichitta through taking the bodhisattva vow, based on chapter nine of the Ornament of Precious Liberation by Gampopa.

[The Gyalwang Karmapa’s recent talks have been detailed and extensively researched, so it was decided to make a version available that resembles a lightly edited transcript for those who wish to read the longer report, which follows this summary for those who prefer brevity.]

The Gyalwang Karmapa continued his explanation of the rituals for rousing bodhichitta in the two lineages, one stemming from Manjushri and the other from Maitreya. Some scholars, the Karmapa noted, say that the traditions differ not only in their rituals but also in actuality, because they understand Manjushri’s lineage to belong to the Middle Way school and Maitreya’s to the Mind Only school. Other scholars do not agree with these attributions.

After wishing everyone a good morning, the Gyalwang Karmapa continued the reading transmission from the Ornament of Precious Liberation, resuming the ninth chapter with its the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Topics. These cover relative and ultimate bodhicitta, various causes that give rise to bodhicitta, and sources from which the vows can be taken. According to Gampopa’s text, the sources include vows that can be taken directly from a preceptor, or in the absence of a qualified guru, a Buddha image or visualization can be substituted.

During the fifth day of the Arya Kshema Winter Dharma Gathering, the Gyalwang Karmapa continued his teaching on generating bodhichitta based on Gampopa’s Ornament of Precious Liberation. He also discussed methods he would like to see enacted for promoting the continued flourishing of the Kagyu nuns study and contemplation of the great philosophical texts.

The Karmapa’s teaching today focused on how to generate equal compassion for all beings—our friends, our enemies, and those we feel neutral towards. First, the Karmapa said we need to examine the false idea that we are independent from other beings. The fact alone that our physical body comes from our parents is evidence we are not independent things. Furthermore, from the moment we are born, we are dependent on the kindness of our parents and others for our survival.

Continuing his explanation of how to meditate on relative bodhichitta, the Gyalwang Karmapa turned to the second one of considering individual beings to be like our mother. The reason we do this, he explained, is that all living beings have been abundantly kind to us. “We do not necessarily have to think of our parents here,” he added, “but simply remember how kind, loving, and affectionate living beings have been to us.” If we believe in past and future lives, he explained, we can consider that from beginingless time until now, we have taken innumerable births with different bodies and changing parents so that at one time or another, all living beings have taken a turn as our parents.